The beginnings of agriculture started to change our ancestors' natural diet a mere 12,000 years ago. For most of the two-million-year history of the genus Homo, foods were harvested from what the environment of the moment had to offer. The legacy of such natural diets and humans' adaptations to them are increasingly recognized as holding a key to the understanding and prevention of many of today's nutritional problems and diseases.

The nature and evolution of these diets and the foraging strategies underlying them have nevertheless remained poorly understood. This volume, based on a Royal Society Discussion Meeting, brings together the latest findings from a diverse range of relevant disciplines. Three major sections deal in turn with foraging behaviour in African apes and other non-human primates, with the fossil evidence on the diet of our human ancestors, and with the insights gained from studies of present-day hunters
and gatherers. A final section summarizes recent dietary changes and their impact on human health today.